FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional switch used to flicker a parking brake lamp for a vehicle.
In such a switch, an operating bar 3 made of hard resin is slidably supported by leg portions 2A and 2B of a support member 2 having a U-shape in cross section and fixed to an electrically conductive base 1 for supporting a parking brake lever as an earth. As shown in FIG. 2, a head portion 3A of the operating bar 3 is widened, and a compression spring 4 is disposed between a step portion 3B and the leg portion 2B of the support member 2 to bias the head portion 3A such that the head portion 3A is projected from the leg portion 2A. An electrically conductive terminal member 5 is composed of a contact portion 5A having a U-shape in cross section and a connecting terminal portion 5B extending from the contact portion 5A, and is attached by fastener 6 to an end portion of the operating bar 3. Both leg pieces of the contact portion 5A contact an outer face of the leg portion 2B of the support member 2 by the biasing force of the compression spring 4, and the connecting terminal portion 5B is connected to a lead wire 7.
In the switch mentioned above, the head portion 3A of the operating bar 3 is pressed by the parking brake lever during the running of the vehicle, and the contact portion 5A is separated from the support member 2 against the biasing force of the compression spring 4 so that the switch is not turned on.
When the parking brake lever is pulled up to actuate a side brake the pressing force applied to the head portion 3A of the operating bar 3 is released, and the contact portion 5A contacts the support member 2 by the compression spring 4, so that the switch is turned on and the parking brake lamp is thereby turned on.
However, in such a conventional switch, since the terminal member 5 connected to the lead wire is moved every switching operation, the lead wire is also oscillated so that it is possible to disconnect the lead wire 7 by the repetition of the switching operation.
To overcome the problems mentioned above, an object of the present invention is to provide a switching apparatus in which a lead wire is not disconnected by the repetition of the switching operation and the switch is cheaply manufactured.
With the above object in mind, the present invention resides in a switching apparatus comprising an electrically conductive base means having rising walls; an electrically conductive operating bar means slidably supported by the rising walls of the base means and having a projecting portion in a trunk portion thereof; terminal means fixed to one of the rising walls of the base means through an insulator; and resilient means projecting an end of the operating bar means from one of the rising walls and biasing the operating bar in a direction in which the projecting portion of the operating bar means contacts the terminal means.